Dipper shovel loader



5 Sheets-Shea 1 INVENTOR Kin/(MK BY A 5 ATTORNEYS R A BECKWITH DIPPER SHOVEL LOADER Flled July 15, 1943 a5am. Z, 1945.

Jan. 2, 1945. c wn- 2,366,480

DIPPER SHOVEL LOADER Filed July 15, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Jan, 2, W45. R, A BECKWITH 2,366,480

DIPPER SHOVEL LOADER I Filed July 15, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jan. 2, 1945. R. A. BECKWITH DIPPER SHOVEL LOADER Filed July 15, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 III I! 11 Patented Jan. 2, 1945 DIPPER sHovELLoADER.

Raymond A. Beckwith, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Koehring Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application July 15, 1943, Serial No. 494,813

. 9 Claims. (01. 214-91 The purpose of thi invention has been to devise a novel form of shovel dirt loading. machine with a special view to obtaining highly ei'licient and fast operations of excavating and loading.

The common machines and, methodemploye-d heretofore very largely in respect to utilizing shovel type machines for loading dirt from a place of excavation into a vehicle or onto a soil bank or the like involve the employment of what is ordinarily known as a power dipper shovel.

These shovels comprise a traction base, a revolve ing body mounted upon the base, an oilstanding boom carried by the body, and a dipper shovel carried by a dipper stick or handle. In the use of such shovel excavating machine the dipper is ordinarily lowered to the excavating position by pivotal movement on its supporting boom, thereupon thrust into the earth to load the same,

. thereafter elevated from the excavation, and

swung by rotation of the shovel crane body to bring the boom and dipper to a lateral position whereupon the bottom door of the dinner is vating function during the time the other dipper is being discharged, and vice versa.

Themachine of the present invention embodies the features last referred to above in a simple type practically ccontinuous excavating and loading dipper shovel machine.

,A preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figurel is a side elevation of a shovel crane embodying the principles of construction of the invention.

opened to drop the excavated materials into a truck or vehicle to carry them off or to dropsaid materials onto a soil bank, so to speak, dependent upon the condition of excavation.

Now in the use of the ordinary dipper shovel in the manner above described. a ver considerable portion of the time of the excavating and dumping operations of the dipper is involved in the non-excavating functions thereof incident to the elevation, swinging laterally, spotting the load for dumping, and dumping or dischargin the dipper finally.

It has therefore been a primary object of the present invention to avail of a di per type exca- I matically. deposited upon a; carry-oil conveyor.

In thi manner I avoid the necessity for swinging the body of the crane and by reason of the fact that I employ a plural number of dippers, a substantially continuous excavating operation mav be performed in that while one dipper is being actuated to excavate the materials, the oth r dipper, previously filled, ma be elevated to the discharge point. In this way thedippers need be Worked up anddown only and one of the dippers may practically always be occupied with-its exca- Figure 2 is an end view of the machine, looking in the direction of the dipper supporting boom end of the machine, the traction features and body being omitted.

Figure 3 is a top plan view, the dipper sticks and dippers omitted.

Figure 4 is a detail view taken about on the line 44 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an diagrammatic view showing the drive chain means for crowding out and for withdrawingthe pivotal axis of each dipper stick,

which axis is carried by the supporting boom.

Figure 6 is a sectional view, partly dotted, about. on line '66 of Figure 1,

Figure 7 is a sectional view on the line 1-1 of Figure 3. Figures 8. 9, and 10 show, respectively, side, top plan, and fragmentary front end views of a modified form of the machine. In the preferred type of my machine as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, A denotes the body of the machin which comprises the usual cab or housing enclosing the operating machinery and power plant which is customarily a Diesel orother suitable motor. The said body A is preferably stationarily mounted upon the traction base B which may embody the customary spac'ed' crawlers or endless traction belts commonly used for dipper shovel excavators today. Mounted on the body A at one end thereof is a double boom I which compris s the upwardly or approximately verticall extending boom mem bers 2, each'boom member having offstanding outwardly from its middle portion a supporting arm 3 "and similarly having below said arm and standing outwardly from the boom, the lower arm 4. The two arms 3 of the boom members 2 are provided with track portions 5 on which is supported the transversely slidable endless conveyor beltunit 5. 'One of the roller shafts of saidbelt un'ithas a driving gear 1 adapted to-be conne'cted by sprocket chain means or any suit able gearing with the power. plant on the body A.

whereby said unit 6 may be operated in either direction for causing dirt or like material deposited thereon to be discharged from either side of the machine.

Any suitable means, as shown, may be employed for shifting the unit 6 bodily transversely, and upon its mounting parts 5, so that one end of the unit may extend some distance laterally from either side of the machine and the materials received and conveyed off by said unit deposited in a truck body 8 as seen in Figure 2. Or, if desired, the materials carried ofi by the conveyor unit 6 may be dropped upon a spoils bank or deposited in any suitable place appropriate for the particular use of the machine in its excavating operation.

'The lower arms 4 of the boom I are dipper I carrying arms in that they are provided with elongated slotted portions 9 to receive a roller I0 mounted at the inner bifurcated end portions I I of a dipper stick I2. The roller ill supports the pivotal or axis end of the stick I2 for back tion 9 of the boom arm 4, said back and forth movement being the retracting and thrusting movement, respectively, of the dipper I3 which is carried by the outer end of the dipper stick I2.

In order to shift the axis of the dipper I2 for said retracting and thrusting or crowding movements of the stick I2, I may employ any suitable by a sprocket chain passing around sprockets 2| and 22 and driven by a drive carried to the shaft supporting the sprocket 2| as from. an

engine or any suitable means.

The retracting and crowding chain I i carries a coupling 24 between said links thereof and fastened to the latter. The coupling involves bearing parts surrounding the axis shaft 25 of the dipper stick I2, see Figures 4 and 5.

Now it is to be understood that a dipper stick and driving means comprising the general structure just described is carried by each of the boom arms 4 and is operated from the machinery in the body A under driving connections leading from the motor in said body, so according to the construction of my loader as illustrated. there are two or twin dipper shovel members employed.

The dipper I3 of each dipper stick I2 instead of being a bottom dump dipper similar to the ones usually employed today in dipper shovels, has a top door 26 which is pivoted to the sides of the dipper as at 21. A short distance from the point of pivotal support of the dipper 21 a yoke or clevis member 28 has its ends connected with the opposite side portions of the door 26. The door 26 is pivoted near the middle of the top of the dipperat the sides thereof and the door closes against the back of the dipper as shown in Figure 1 and is normally retained closed by a latch 29 having a trip arm 30.

' If desired, the under side of each arm 3 of the boom i may be equipped with a roller bumper 3I yieldably supported in any suitable manner to 'take' the shock of stopping the dipper stick movement near the upper limit of the latter.

The trip arms 38 of the latches 29 are adapted to strike the outer frame member 32 of the supporting frame of the conveyor unit 6 when the dippers reach the upper limit of their movement, whereupon to disengage the latches 29 on the doors 26 and permit the doors to open incident to the upward pull thereon of cables 33 which are attached one to each of the yokes 28. The cables 33 lead over sheaves 34 on the upper ends of the boom members 2 and are connected with separate operating drums 35 in the cab or body A, which drums are actuated by the source of power in said cab, such as the engine.

Separate drums 35 are employed in order that the dippers I3 may be separately raised and lowered, preferably in alternation, so that while one dipper is down, being thrust out to excavate and retracted and elevated, the other dipper may be up in its dumping position and/or progressing backwardly and downwardly toward its excavatand forth movement relatively to the slotted por ing position. In this manner substantially continuous excavating operations may be carried on by the operator stationed in the cabv B of the machine at the controls for the various operating parts used for the dipper operations.

If desired, a drum 36 may be employed in the cab and connected suitably by cable means 31 to the boom arms and for raising and loweringthe peaks of the boom members 2 simultaneously, whereby to adjust the boom properly so that the dipper stick arms 4 may be positioned at different elevations and the extent of digging move-. ment of the dippers regulated in a satisfactory manner.

It is notable that in so far as the boom I and the mounting of the dipper sticks I2 thereon is concerned, there is utilized the principle of boom and dipper supporting construction embodied in the patent of Kirkham No. 1,692,452 issued November 20, 1928, with the consequential advantages to be derived therefrom.

The operationof the machine of my invention is comparatively simple. When the machine is positioned at the site of excavation, the operator will adjust the boom I as ma be desired or its then present adjustment utilized, as will be most customary. Thereupon, the operator will cause the alternate lowering of each dipper stick from the full line position of Figure 1 to the several excavating and crowding out positions illustrated in dotted lines in said figure. Then the excavating dipper will be elevated to its substantially full line position of Figure 1 and when it reaches its upper limit of movement it will be automatically discharged onto the conveyor unit.6 whichwill carry on" the contents of the-dipper deposited on the conveyor. While the operation above mentioned is performed with one dipper, the other dipper will in proper sequence be lowered and caused to go through such operation in alternation with the first dipper.

-It is notable that on the upward pull of the cable means 33 on the dipper during the larger part of the raising of the dipper from its excavating position, the cable means acts with the tendency of maintaining the dipper door or doors 26 closed, though at about the upward limit of movement with the dipper stick I2 with the dipper I3 the angle of the cable as to its pulling force changes and tends to shift the door or doors to open positions immediately upon the release of the door or doors from the latches 29. Apowerful thrusting or crowding out of the dipper sticks I2 is obtainable by the operating chain means I4 and the reversal of the direction of movement of the chain means willeifectively and quickly re;

by turning a hand wheel 45 carried by shaft 46 turning in bearings in boom I, pinions 41 may be rotated in either direction. The pinion 41 engage teeth racks 32a on the undersides of the frame parts 32 of conveyor 6, and turning of the shaft 46 enables shifting of the conveyor unit 6 to adjusted positions projecting laterally from either side of the machine.

Figure 3 illustrates certain operating mechanism of the machine includin the drums 35 to actuate the cables 33 for raising and lowering the clippers l3; also the drums 36 for moving boom I, and engine operated units for the crowding and retracting of the dipper sticks and dippers. There are two such units identically constructed. Each comprises a reversing planetary gear unit 48, chain driven as at 49 from the engine, and includes a clutch 50 and brake The clutch controls the drive action and the brake holds the planetary gears to control reversing action of the driving shaft 52 of each unit, as well known in this and the general art of such planetary gearing. From the shaft 52 of each planetary unit the drive is transmitted by the sprocket 2| and chain 20, previously described, to the associated boom axis or shaft I 8 that carries the sprocket 22 before mentioned, and the sprocket I! that operates the crowd and retract sprocket chain l4. By the operation of the planetary gear units the thrust or crowd, and retract, actions of the chains M for the dipper sticks l2 and dippers l3 are efiected.

In the modified form of my machine of Figures 8, 9, and of the drawings I employ a longitudinal endless belt conveyor unit 54 carried by the boom arms 3a, the material excavated by the dippers l3 being discharged automatically into the feed hopper .55 and through the bottom opening 56 thereof onto the conveyor belt 54a, by abutting of latches 51 against said hopper 55. Yieldable bumpers 58 limit movements of the dipper sticks l2 and absorb the shock of such movements. The remaining features of the modified machine are like those described in reference to the construction in Figures 1 to 7 inclusive, and like parts have corresponding reference characters applied thereto. A cable 59 connected at one end to the conveyor 54 at 60 winds and unwinds relatively to the hoist drum 6| to vary the elevation of the conveyor.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a dipper shovel loader of the class described, in combination, a body, a traction base supporting said body, a boom supported by the base, a conveyor unit leading away from the machine and supported by said boom, a'dipper stick pivotally mounted upon the boom, a dipper carried by said dipper stick, means for operating the dipper for effecting excavating action thereof and for elevating the same to discharge onto the said conveyor unit, combined with a second (1113- per and dipper stick unit corresponding with that set forth and disposed at one side of the latter upon the boom, and in which the moving means is alternatively operable for the actuation of the two dipper and dipper stick units.

2. In a dipper shovel loader of the class described, in combination, a supporting traction base, a body thereon, a pair of dipper stick and dippers movably mounted on the base in side by side spaced relation, independent means for crowding out and retracting said dipper sticks, an adjustable boom supporting the dippers and sticks, and independent means for raising the dipper sticks from excavating positions to discharge positions.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2, combined with a conveyor for carrying materials away from the'machine carried by said boom tore.- ceive materials from the dippers when discharged.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 2, combined with a conveyor for carrying materials away from the machine carried by said boom to receive materials from the clippers when discharged, pivotal means supporting the said boom for permitting adjustment thereof, and means for moving the boom and holding the same in adjusted positions whereby to control the digging depth of the dippers.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 2, combined with a conveyor for carrying materials away from the machine carried by said boom to receive materials from the clippers when discharged, and means to shift the conveyor in opposite directions laterally of the machine.

6. A dipper shovel and loading machine of the class described, in combination, a portable base, a body mounted thereon to move therewith, a pair of side by side dipper stick and dipper units extending'from one end of the body, a boom adjustably mounted on the body, mechanism operable from the body for reciprocating the dipper stick and shovel units toward and from the body for effecting excavating actions thereof, and means connected with the boom for varying its position of adjustment on the body.

'7. A machine as claimed in claim 6, combined with a conveyor'unit supported on the boom and onto which the dipper stick and dipper units discharge.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 6, combined with a conveyor unit supported on the boom and onto which the dipper stick and dipper units discharge, and means carried by the boom for varying the operative position of the conveyor there- 9. A machine as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the boom comprises a vertically extending body portion and a laterally extending base portion, said base portion connected with the dipper stick and dipper units so as to permit the reciprocating movement of the latter, and further characterized in that the mechanism for reciprocating the dipper stick and dipper units is operable independently so as to enable alternatin excavating operations of the separate units.

RAYMOND A. BECKWITH. 

